Monday, 26 April 2010
Do Web 2.0 technologies widen or hinder participation?
Web 2.0 technologies have raised expectations. Today’s learners are no longer passive consumers of content, they also actively create content, be it in the form of a blog; wiki; entry on a social networking site or the uploading of a video to YouTube. This co-creation and re-use of knowledge has significant implications for further and higher education and how these technologies could/should be deployed to support formal learning and encourage greater participation within it. Students are finding new ways to create and share knowledge, and this activity is no longer confined to a physical place or space. How does the technological dimension of the widening participation debate impact upon individuals and what opportunities are there to close the gap and ensure that there is technological parity, both in terms of access and use?
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Some interesting comments on there, it will be interesting to see how this debate pans out.
ReplyDeletePaul.
Thanks Paul. Yes, it is a very interesting area, and one where the literature is emerging all the time. It would be good to get some debate going on this issue as it does tend to polarise opinion, but that's good, I need some feisty librarians to join the debate!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great debate, looking at the way in which students share and contribute to the learning process can only maximise understanding from an educational point of view. As we are now mixing with students that have more IT skills than ever before surely there is a need for greater understanding, disucssion and training in this area?
ReplyDeleteTraining ... the magical word. Trying to stress importance of a continued staff development programme to enhance the quality of teaching and learning has not been the four-front of strategy for a while now.
ReplyDeletePaul
I agree Paul. I'm following a blog (eComms-TSC)and there is a link to The Online College which is part of Sheffield College. It's an excellent resource and I'd strongly encourage anyone with an interest in e-staff development/CPD to have a look.
ReplyDeleteWhat about those students who are not so IT focused? In our striving to keep pace with new technology are we creating an exclusive club that only those who can, can join in? There is still a place for print.
ReplyDeleteWhilst it is important to recognise that not all students may not have either access to resources or the skills needed to use them appropriately, surely it is the job of academics and support staff to ensure that we ensure our resources are available in a variety of formats to enable students to access all of the resources on offer. Not doing so would exclude far more people than would be the case if new technologies were explored and used to support learning.....
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely. The more that we can provide in terms of supportive instructional material, the wider the opportunities to reach out to as many 'non traditional' learners as possible.
ReplyDelete